Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits

Grade: 1/2

Dangerous Habits kicked off the excellent run Garth Ennis had on Hellblazer, one of the most overlooked books in recent history. This is a fairly well known story, but I suspect most people only know the plot, and not read the actual issues.

A little uneven in spots, this is generally a very well done story. The art ranges too, it was all done by William Simpson, but it only looks good when inked by who ever did the first and last issue. What is the story, well Constantine manages to really annoy the Devil or one of them anyway, but he has cancer and really needs to avoid dying, forever. So he searches everywhere , and eventually must face off with the Dark Brothers in a game of wits. Ennis is a unique writer, know for over the top violence, but he does not use it for the climax, infact the book ends on a quiet note.

In the end Dangerous Habits is a good introduction to Hellblazer, the characters are well defined and the pacing crisp. While Original Sins may be a good choice for Hellblazer beginers since it starts are the beginning of the series, be warned it is a different writer, the stories are very good but in a different way, and Constantine himself is portrayed differently. In my opinion, Ennis wrote the diffinitive run on Hellblazer and everything you need to get started is here, it has Ennis's first issue and is a good jumping on point for other Hellblazer TPB's, since there is some important stuff revealed here that will come up eventually. I recommend this book if you want something a little edgier and off beat.